Dust removal means

ABSTRACT

A head assembly for continuously removing dust accumulating on margins of shoe soles as a result of operations carried out on the margins by a rotary tool. The head is adapted to fit over the tool and includes a feed or guide slot for introducing marginal portions of soles to the interior of the head. The feed slot is located intermediate of air intake means and air exhaust means, and adjustment means is provided for orienting a sole as fed through the feeding slot.

United States Patent Babson 1 Oct. 24, 1972 [54] DUST REMOVAL MEANS3,435,474 4/1969 Imhof ..12/89 72 Inventor: Edward S.'Babso l h, M 1pswlc ass Primary Examiner-Patrick D. Lawson [73] Assignee: USMCorporation, Boston, Mass. Attorney--Richard A. Wise, Richard B. Megleyand 221 Filed: June 10, 1971 f' Clea! [21] Appl. No.: 151,810 [57]ABSTRACT A head assembly for continuously removing dust accu- [52] US.Cl ..12/89 mulating on gins of h s l s a a r sult of pera [51 Int. Cl...A43d 7/00 tions carried out on the margins y a rotary tool- The 58]Field of Search ..12/1 R, 1 A, 89 head is adapted to fit Over the tooland includes a feed or guide slot for introducing marginal portions ofsoles ['56] References Cited to the interior of the head. The feed slotis located intermediate of air intake means and air exhaust means,UNITED STATES PATENTS and adjustment means is provided for orienting asole 3,066,331 12/1962 Skelton ..12/1 R as fed thmugh the feedmg3,242,515 3/1966 Baeten et a1, 12/ l R 9 Claims, 6 Drawing figuresPATENTEDum 24 I972 sum 2 or 3 DUST REMOVAL MEANS BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION Various operations are commonly carried out on margins ormarginal portions of unattached shoe soles, that is prior to theirassembly with shoe uppers'They may be roughened to facilitate adhesiveattaching with the uppers and/or shaped to provide them withattractiveness in finished appearance. The latter may include reducingthe edges to give a skived, beveled, rounded, reduced or other desirededge contour.

The operations presently practiced to effect margin roughing, shaping,etc., are generally of a continuous or automatic nature using rotarycutting or abrading tools, singly or in combination. An example of theapparatus used is disclosed in US. Pat. No 3,435,474 issued Apr. 1,1969. That type of operation has been accompanied by an accumulation ofdust or fine material on the marginal portions .of the soles sooperatedon. "A serious problem arises as a result in that the dust onthe margin interferes with convenient and successful practice ofoperations to follow, a prime example being the operafinishingmaterials, colorants, etc. The problem of dust accumulation andadherence is particularly acute where the soles operated on are of acomposition and the incidence of use of composition soles is very largeand continually increasing.

An incidental problem which arises relates to the rotary abrading toolsthemselves. With high speed and continuous operation, particularly oncomposition soles, the tools too become adversely affected, losing theircutting efficiency. A largemeasure of that can be attributed to dustfrom the soles and elsewhere becoming compacted on the operating surfaceof the tool. This is aggravated in the case of composition soles due tothe presence of resins used in formulating the com-.

positions from which the soles are molded. The resins are oftenthermoplastic in nature V and may become fluidized by frictional heatcreated by the operation. As a result the efficiency of the tools, aswell as the apparatus using them, and the margin detail on solesproduced by their operation are all adversely affected.

It is an object of this invention to provide means for expeditiouslyremoving or eliminating dust otherwise accumulating on margins of shoesoles resulting from abrading, cutting, or similar operations carriedout by rotary tools on the said margins.

It is another object to provide means to remove dust accumulating onoperating surfaces of rotary tools for abrading, cutting, and otherwiseprocessing margins of shoe soles.

Those and other objects of the present invention are attained in a dustremoval head assembly adapted for use with rotary tools designed toabrade, cut, skive, shape, reduce, trim or otherwise finish margins ofshoe soles. The illustrative head assembly comprises a casing or hoodadapted to fit over a rotary tool, air intake and air exhaust means forthe hood, sole feeding or guiding means communicating with the interiorof the hood located intermediate of the air intake and air exhaustmeans, and means for providing the sole with a particu lar orientationas it is fed through the feeding means.

A further feature of the arrangement includes sole feeding or guidingmeans in the form of a feed or guide slot formed between a pair of lipsextending between a pair of generally normally disposed ends provided inthe head or hood. One of these ends, which may be referred to as aleading end, may serve as an abutment against which the sole is directedon feeding. The feed slot is provided in a rotatable collar portion ofthe head or hood which portion is rotatable in response to the edge ofthe sole bearing on the leading end or alternatively against aproximately located abutment. By providing the rotatable collar with aspring or other means which resists rotation, or causes the collar torotate reversely after being advanced, the leading end of the slotgenerally follows the contour of the sole being progressively passedtherethrough. The leading end of the feed slot may be provided with anoutline shape generally complementing that of the edge of the sole and,as indicated previously, it may also be provided with a wear resistantinsert or pin acting asthe abutment. The other end of the feed slot,which may be referred to as the following end of the feed slot, may alsobe shaped to generally complement the outline shape of the sole edge.

The length of the feeding slot may be chosen to allow a maximum portionof the sole margin to be introduced into the slot at any time, while atthe same time it is desirable to choose the length so as to minimize asmuch as possible the space formed betweenthe following end of the feedslot and the sole edge opposing the same. This can, however, be assessedonly in a general way because of the changing curvature of outlinecontour of soles following around the periphery of the sameJTo someextent feed slot length will be determined by the radius of the collarportion of the hood and the thickness of the collar portion section, butis generally related to the outline shape of shoe soles to be operatedon. v

The width of the feed slot, between its lips, is chosen to accommodatesoles to be fed through the same. Further, the slot may be of such widthas to provide for or accommodate soles of considerably differentthicknesses as measured between tread surfaces of a sole.Parenthetically, it will be understood that a sole has two treadsurfaces, the flat, plane surface S, constituting top and bottom andbounded peripherally by the side edge faces of the sole.

It has been discovered that dust removal at the marginal portion of asole may be accomplished expeditiously and in continuous fashion bydirecting the tread surface facing in the direction of the exhaust meansinto contact with the corresponding lip of the feed slot and maintainingthat relationship as the sole is fed through the same. The fact thatthere is a space fortned between the opposite tread surface and the slotlip confronting it does not materially affect the efficiency of the dustremoval operation. As a consequence, the slot may, as indicatedpreviously, be of sufficient width between lips to accumulate soles in abroad range of thicknesses.

against the indicated feed slot lip may be removed some distance fromthe lip of the feed slot corresponding to it, will not noticeablyinterfere with the efi'ective capacity of the head to remove dust fromthe sole margin, and do so expeditiously and in a continuous, automaticmanner.

According to another feature of the invention the head is arranged sothat the air intake means serves to direct a stream of cooling air overthe operating surface of the rotary tool when the latter is locatedwithin or fitted to the interior of the hood. In that manneraccumulation of dust on the operating surface of the tool is greatlyreduced if not effectively prevented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view partly insection illustrating an embodiment of the dust removal head assembly ofthis invention in which a hood is fitted over a rotary tool operable ona sole extending through a feed slot;

FIG. 2 is a side view partly in section illustrating the hood of FIG. 1in combination with means to orient feed of a sole within the feed slot;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top view partly in section taken along the line IVIV of FIG.1 and showing the sole at an early stage of feed within the feed slot;

FIG. 4a is a view corresponding to that of FIG. 4 but with the sole at alater stage of feed within the feed slot, and;

FIG. 5 is a partial front view of a rotatable collar showing the feedslot with a sole fed thereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT While the dustremoval head assembly of the present invention may be used inconjunction with a wide variety of rotary tools adapted to operate onshoe soles, it has particular application, for instance, in machines ofthe type disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,435,474 issued Apr. 1, 1969, toHerman A. Imhof. In that context, it is intended that that patent beincluded by reference.

As shown particularly in FIGS. l-3, the dust removal head of the presentinvention comprises a hood having a hollow interior 12 adapted to fitover a rotary tool 14, see specifically FIGS. 1 and 2. The hood 10includes a main hood portion 15 cooperating with a rotatable annularcollar portion 16, the latter having formed therein a feeding slot 18(FIG. 5) located intermediate of an air intake means or collar end 20and air exhaust means or collar end 22, provided on the collar. The airexhaust end 22 communicates by means of a duct or hose 24 with a vacuumpump, not shown.

The main hood portion 15 of hood 10 is shown constituting a block 26with an upstanding boss portion 26a, both enclosing hoodinterior 22. Theblock 26 includes a circular recess 28 into which a double race ballbearing ring 30 fits. Bearing retainer plate 32, having a circular cutout center 34, secures the ball bearing ring 30 within channel 28. Theinner race of the ball bearing ring 30 clears the cut out center 34 andthe plate 32 is secured to the bottom surface of block 26 by means ofcap screws 36 (FIG. 3) leading through plate holes 38 into holes, notshown, correspondingly located in the bottom surface of the block 26.

The hood 10 receives the rotatable collar portion 16 in the form of ablock 40 and an upstanding boss portion 40a, thereby occupying the lowerportion of hood interior 12. The boss portion 40a is press fit to theinterior of the inside race of ball bearing ring 30 to allow forrotation of collar portion 16 relative to main hood portion 15. A flatshouldered surface 44 located at the inner top surface of block 40serves as a bearing surface for the surface of the inside race of ballbearing ring 30.

The collar block 40 includes spring groove 46 into which tension spring48 fits and is attached between pins 50 and 52 (FIG. 1). Pin 50 isattached to the collar portion 16 and the pin 52 is attached to the mainhood portion 15. The spring 48 serves to yieldingly resist rotation ofcollar portion 16 relative to the main portion of hood 10. The amount ofloading in spring 16 is sufficient to allow the collar portion 16 to berotated in one direction by a sole S being fed or directed horizontallythrough feed slot 18 while at the same time being capable of rotatingthe collar 16 reversely to a starting location when a sole edge nolonger bears on the collar or after a sole S has been completelyadvanced through feed slot 18. The bottom end of the collar portion 16serves in this case as the air intake means 20. As shown,

i the end 20 is positioned below rotary tool 14, or, to

state it differently the tool 14 is fitted entirely within the interior12, so that the intake air is directed over tool 14 and particularlyover the operating surface of the tool 14. In this example the rotarytool 14 is shown as an abrading stone provided with a grooved surfacewith which to provide a rounded edge face on the sole S. Note in thatregard that the tool 14, and specifically the operating surface of thesame is aligned with feed slot 18 so that the sole S as advancedthroughfeed slot 18 may be operated upon accurately by tool .14.

The feed slot 18 is defined by a pair of spaced, horizontal lips 54 and56 in collar portion 16, see specifically FIG. 5. Top lip 54 is part ofthe bottom flat surface of an annular projection 58 carried on collarportion 16. That arrangement serves to provide a relatively largesurface against which to guide by contact the top tread surface of soleS being fed through feed slot 18. In that regard, the feed slot shouldextend so that a portion of the top or reference tread surface of thesole being operated upon will remain in contact with top lip 54, that isthe lip contacted by the tread surface facing the air exhaust means, forsome distance behind the operating locality of the rotary tool 14. Thewidth of feed slot 18 between the lips 54 and 56 is such as toaccommodate soles of different and/or varying thicknesses, see againFIG. 5. This takes advantage of the discovery that effective dustremoval is obtained by providing extended contact as described betweenthe tread surface facing the exhaust means and corresponding feed slotlip 54. The length of feed slot 18 is defined between a leading end 60(FIGS. 4, 4a), against which the edge fact of advancing sole S isdirected and following end 62, see FIGS. 4 and 4a specifically. Leadingslot end 60 may serve directly as an abutment surface or gage up againstwhich the advancing edge face of a sole S is contacted, or optionally ahardened abutment pin 64 may be proximately located to end 60 for thatpurpose. The abutment pin 64 which may be of hard steel alloy,carborundum, etc., is included to extend the effective wear life of thepart formed with the feed slot 18. Otherwise, the leading edge 60 maybecome worn by the soles and the entire part must then be replaced.Machines of the type referred to are generally automatic and operated athigh speeds; as a consequence a high degree of wear can take placewithin a short operating period. The slot ends 60 and 62 are shownconcave and contoured to generally complement the outline curved shapeof a sole S due to edge face curvatures of the peculiar outlines ofsoles, which continually vary progressively over their peripheries inany given sole.

As indicated particularly at FIGS. 4 and 5, a sole S is advanced pastthe tool 14 and through the slot 18 while maintaining contact between anedge face of the sole and the abutment pin 64 when used. This causes thecollar portion ,16 to be rotated in a counterclockwise direction asviewed in those figures. The spring 48 operates to generally maintainthat contact and, with sole S passed entirely through slot 18, thecollar portion 16 is caused to return, by rotation in the oppositedirection to a rest or starting position.

The margin of the sole S is shown in FIG. 1 being advanced over a fixedwork support 65 and into and through feed slot 18 by a pair of positivedrive rolls 66 and 68 in the manner disclosed in the previouslyidentified Imhof patent. In order to provide and maintain the desiredorientation of the sole during its advance through feed slot 18, that isas previously described, by having the top tread surface in contact withthe top lip 54 of the feed slot 18, means are provided by which toadjust the hood 10, and the carrying slot 18, in heightwise relation tosole S. The upper block 26 of hood is formed with a T-slot 70 into whichslidably fits complementary shaped post 72 thus allowing the hood 10 tobe adjusted heightwise. Post 72 extends upstandingly from a cap plate74, the latter provided with an open recess 76, see FIG. 3, into whichthe top portion of a motor 78 fits with its drive shaft 80 connectingtool 14 with motor 78 extended upward through recess 76. An exhaust vent82 for motor 78 is provided in cap plate 74, see FIG. 1. The cap plate74 is attached onto a stanchion 84, by means of a pair of cap screws 86,and at its lower end stanchion 84 is attached to and carried by aswingable tool arm 88 of the type disclosed in the previously identifiedImhof patent. The motor 78 is also attachably held by tool arm 88.

The amount of adjustment or orientation required for a given sole S fedthrough feed slot 18 to effect adequate dust removal from the same maybe considered relatively small, but at the same time is very critical.As a result provision is made to finely adjust the heightwisepositioning of the head 10, as it relates to the contact to be providedbetween an upper tread surface of sole S and the upper lip 54 of feedslot 18. The contact so provided should be fairly close while at thesame time allowing the sole S to be advanced through the slot. Tofacilitate feeding upper lip 54 may be provided with a permanentlubricant such as a coating of a fluorocarbon polymer or a temporarylubricant such as a silicone spray or compound or the like.

An effective arrangement for accomplishing the required hood adjustmentheightwise relative to a sole S within feed slot 18 is shownparticularly at FIGS. 1 and 3. A cover plate 90 having a threaded hole92 for accepting a threaded shaft 94 of height adjustment screw 96, isattached to the upper surface of the hood block 26 so that it covers thetop opening of T-slot 70. To secure the plate 90, cap screws 98 are ledthrough holes 100 in the cover plate 90 and threadedly extended intoholes 102 in the block 26. A set screw 104 (FIG. 3) for locking thescrew 96 in a selected position, and specifically upper shank portion 94of the same relative to the plate 90, is threaded into the side of plate90.

Adjustment screw 96 includes a lower threaded stern portion 106 whichfits into threacls provided in height adjustment insert 108, and thelatter in turn slidably fits into bore 1 10 formed in the post 70. Aguide slot 1 1 1 is provided on the insert 108. The insert 108 isfixedly positioned angularly within bore 110 of the post72 by means of aretaining pin 118 carried by the post. A guide pin 112 extends slidablythrough a vertical slot 124 provided in a clip 114 and into the slot 111. Guide pin 113 fitted into guide slot 111 of insert 108 serves tofacilitate proper positioning of that as well. Spring clip 1 14 isremovably attached to the post by means of a pair of parallel ears 120which are slidably received in slots 122 formed on opposite sides of thepost 70. Rotating adjustment screw 96 serves, since the insert 108 cannot rotate and the post 72 is not movable vertically, to lift the platewith the hood assembly 10 and hence to adjust the hood feed slot 18heightwise in relation to the sole S being fed therethrough. Morespecifically, and as described previously the desired orientation oradjustment is directed to providing contact between an upper treadsurface of sole S and the top lip 54 of feed slot 18. The top lip 54 isthat closest to the air exhaust means 22 and complements the treadsurface facing air exhaust means 22.

In operation, the head 10 is assembled over a rotary tool carried on ashoe machine designed to operate on margins of shoe soles, as forexample, the automatic or continuous machine disclosed in theaboveidentified Imhof patent. The head 10 is then adjusted in the directionof the axis of rotation of the tool to position a gage surface relativeto soles advanced into the feed slot 14 so that the upper tread surfaceof the sole is in slidable contact with the upper lip 54 of slot 18.Soles are then advanced continuously and manually on the support 65 orautomatically through the machine in the manner described in the Imhofpatent.

It will then be seen that the objects set forth above, including thosemade apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attainedand, since certain changes may be made in the above dust removal headassembly without departing from the scope of the invention, it isintended that all matter contained in the above description or shown inthe accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not ina limitmg sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A head assembly for continuously removing dust accumulated at shoesole margin from the operation of a rotary tool along said margincomprising a hood adapted to fit over the rotary tool, sole feedingmeans essentially defined by a pair of lips spaced to form a slotcommunicating with the interior of the hood to accommodate continuousfeeding of a marginal portion of a sole therethrough, the sole feedingmeans being positioned intermediate of means for intaking air to saidhood and means for exhausting air from the same, and means forpositioning one of the lips relative to the tread surface of a sole fedthrough the feeding means to direct a tread surface on the marginalportion facing said exhaust means against the corresponding adjacent lipof the feeding means.

2. A head assembly according to claim 1 wherein the sole feeding meansis a slot defined between lips provided in a collar portion of the hood,the collar portion being essentially rotatable toward with respect to amain portion of the hood in response to the sole fed therethrough withthe sole edge being driven against an abutment surface located to an endof said slot.

3. A head assembly according to claim 2 wherein the abutment is a pin ofcircular cross-section which extends between said lips.

4. A head assembly according to claim 3 wherein the pin is formed ofcarborundum material.

5. A head assembly according to claim 2 wherein the collar portion isprovided with yieldable means for rotating the same reversely to astarting position after a sole margin has completely passed through thesaid slot.

6. A head assembly according to claim 5 wherein the means for rotatingthe collar backward is a spring attached at one point to said collarportion and at a second point to the main portion of said hood.

7. A head assembly according to claim 1 wherein the sole feeding meansis positioned so that a sole fed therethrough registers on an operatingsurface carried on a rotary tool fitted to the interior of the hood.

8. A head assembly according to claim 1 wherein the means for intakingair to the hood is located so as to direct the air over the operatingsurface of a rotary tool fitted to the interior of the hood.

9. A head assembly according to claim 1 wherein the means for exhaustingair from the hood includes a duct attached thereto and to means forgenerating at least a partial vacuum.

1. A head assembly for continuously removing dust accumulated at shoesole margin from the operation of a rotary tool along said margincomprising a hood adapted to fit over the rotary tool, sole feedingmeans essentially defined by a pair of lips spaced to form a slotcommunicating with the interior of the hood to accommodate continuousfeeding of a marginal portion of a sole therethrough, the sole feedingmeans being positioned intermediate of means for intaking air to saidhood and means for exhausting air from the same, and means forpositioning one of the lips relative to the tread surface of a sole fedthrough the feeding means to direct a tread surface on the marginalportion facing said exhaust means against the corresponding adjacent lipof the feeding means.
 2. A head assembly according to claim 1 whereinthe sole feeding means is a slot defined between lips provided in acollar portion of the hood, the collar portion being essentiallyrotatable toward with respect to a main portion of the hood in responseto the sole fed therethrough with the sole edge being driven against anabutment surface located to an end of said slot.
 3. A head assemblyaccording to claim 2 wherein the abutment is a pin of circularcross-section which extends between said lips.
 4. A head assemblyaccording to claim 3 wherein the pin is formed of carborundum material.5. A head assembly according to claim 2 wherein the collar portion isprovided with yieldable means for rotating the same reversely to astarting position after a sole margin has completely passed through thesaid slot.
 6. A head assembly according to claim 5 wherein the means forrotating the collar backward is a spring attached at one point to saidcollar portion and at a second point to the main portion of said hood.7. A head assembly according to claim 1 wherein the sole feeding meansis positioned so that a sole fed therethrough registers on an operatingsurface carried on a rotary tool fitted to the interior of the hood. 8.A head assembly according to claim 1 wherein the means for intaking airto the hood is located so as to direct the air over the operatingsurface of a rotary tool fitted to the interior of the hood.
 9. A headassembly according to claim 1 wherein the means for exhausting air fromthe hood includes a duct attached thereto and to means for generating atleast a partial vacuum.